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Sunday, January 12, 2014

Set in Singapore, Ilo Ilo chronicles the relationship between the Lim family and their newly arrived maid, Teresa. Like many other Filipino women, she has come to this city in search of a better life. Her presence in the family worsens their already strained relationship. Jiale, the young and troublesome son, starts to form a unique bond with Teresa, who soon becomes an unspoken part of the family. This is 1997 and the Asian Financial Crisis is beginning to be felt in the region

(Source: GSC Cinemas)

A "down-to-earth" story that really shows the hardships of a Singaporean family during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.

Anthony Chen took a serious and realistic way of diving into the life of Singaporean families during the crisis through the eyes of a Pilipino maid and also giving a serious tone to the film but also adding a tinge of some comedic moments in the film. But I was expecting a bit more from the movie as the ending was quite abrupt, in my opinion.

The story was in a way "genuine" as I said, it dives quite deeply into the family's life and habits, without missing on the small details. The story flow quite well and it was rather relatable to most families in different societies, especially during hardships.

The plot was good, although I expected much more due to the rather abrupt ending. But that can be forgiven considering the genre and theme this movie was going for. Many scenes were well written to show each and every character's troubles and conflict, but still I felt that those scenes could've escalated to something more hmm.

Acting was great. The actors portrayed the characters really good and realistic. For some moments, it really felt like a documentary of the family's real life. Fyi, Yeo Yann Yann was really pregnant in the movie.

The cinematography was good, simple and not too flashy. The tone of the film make it really seem like a film made in the 90s.

In a nutshell, "ILO ILO" is a genuine, realistic movie which touches on many family and individual values. If you enjoy those real-life stories about people and society, or enjoy "International screens/Foreign films", you should give this a go.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

wanted a couple of giggles, instead I was presented buckets of laughters. :P

Directed By Ken Scott

Starring Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders

Synopsis:

From DreamWorks Pictures comes “Delivery Man”, the story of affable underachiever David Wozniak, whose mundane life is turned upside down when he finds out that he fathered 533 children through sperm donations he made twenty years earlier. In debt to the mob, rejected by his pregnant girlfriend, things couldn’t look worse for David when he is hit with a lawsuit from 142 of the 533 twenty-somethings who want to know the identity of the donor. As David struggles to decide whether or not he should reveal his true identity, he embarks on a journey that leads him to discover not only his true self but the father he could become as well.

A hilarious and somewhat bizarre/unique movie. :P

The already bizarre storyline makes this comedy film stand out from some other movies of similar genre. The movie is not some slap-stick comedy but it have a rather good story & message in dealing with choices and responsibility, although not delivered strongly but the message is there, and hey, it's a comedy, just go in and laugh your hearts out! :P

For a comedy, a somewhat interesting undertaking in terms of story-line. To think of such a scenario for a character to undergo, is just interesting to watch. Something different I'd say. (:

The plot is filled with a fair amount of laughters for audiences' enjoyment! Both slapstick and funny scenes. It's a comedy film, so don't expect such a solid and strong plot though hahah.

Vince Vaughn, a great comedy actor, most of his comedy films he starred in are real "laugh-out-loud"sI remembered "The Internship" was hilarious! And "Delivery Man" will not disappoint.

There's no use going all technical for movies this genre I think. As comedy goes about, "Delivery Man" is one of those rather good comedy film to start off the year! (Unless, you prefer CNY movies hahaha :P)

When I saw Jackie Chan on the movie poster, I thought the movie was going to be a comedy movie mixed with a typical cop story. Instead, POLICE STORY 2013 is a serious movie on how a cop from mainland China, who goes to a bar looking for his daughter, gets caught in a plot to discover truths and seek revenge. The cop, Detective Zhong Wen (Jackie Chan), has to try and make amends with his daughter (Jing Tian) for not playing his role as a good father, negotiate his way out of life-threatening situations, while finding a way to subdue the mastermind (Liu Ye) and saving everyone. Not an easy task.(P.S : Jackie Chan looks older in the movie)

Compared to many other Jackie Chan movies, the amount of actions and stunts performed are significantly less and are more serious. However, the action starts at the early parts of the movie as Zhong Wen (Jackie Chan) spies on the criminal and the hostages.

Throughout the movie, Detective Zhong Wen also converses with Wu (the mastermind played by Liu Ye) to try and figure out his motives and plans. Flashbacks are inserted subtly at suitable moments to develop the plot and unveil the story line bit by bit.

Something I don't really like is the conflict between flashbacks and imaginations in the movie. Because there's no indicator whether it's a flashback or an imagination, it's hard to discern between them and left me a little confused at the end of it. Maybe the director was trying to build up more suspense but I think its just annoying. (You'll see what I mean if you watch the movie)

Nearing the end of the movie, the action dies down to highlight the story and the motive of the criminal. I like how the movie has a balance between action and plot development, instead of some movies which only focus on one particular aspect.

In terms of the scenes and cinematography, I think they did a good job as most of the scenes were realistic and vivid. The background and setting was prepared really well and that's something I appreciate. The subplots also blended well with the big picture and although the emotions were different, I think they blend in just fine.

The ending wasn't the best but I guess it's alright. Something else I didn't really like was that the plot became a little predictable at the end, but I guess there really aren't many variations for a revenge story.

To sum it up, if you're looking for decent cop story with a little mystery, action and emotion, this is a suitable movie.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Hope you all had a great 2013 and a greater 2014! Here is a short video collection of time-lapses I made throughout the year. Hope you enjoyed it!

Time-lapse photography is basically taking photos of a subtle moving object/scene and using all of those shots to make a video. Like a stop-motion video or a slideshow (in a way)I used my Nikon D3200 with an intervalomater (a gear attached to a camera that automatically take a certain amount of shots at a given interval through a given time-span) and mounted on a tripod.Thank youu! (: